Daily GK Updates: 21-22nd Sept 2014

1.    John Key re-elected as the Prime Minister of New Zealand for a third term

i. John Key was re-elected as the Prime Minister of New Zealand for a third term. This was revealed by the preliminary results released by the Electoral Commission of New Zealand. He has led New Zealand as the Prime Minister since 2008.

ii. In the 2014 General Elections of New Zealand held on 20 September 2014, the centre-right National Party led by John Key won 48 percent of the vote.

iii. The Labour Party of New Zealand led by David Cunliffe won 25 percent of the votes whereas the Green Party won 10 percent and New Zealand First (NZF) party won 9 percent of the total votes.

2.    Ashraf Ghani declared next Afghanistan new president

i. Afghanistan's election commission on Sunday has named Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as the winner of the country's presidential election.

ii. The commission's announcement came hours after Ghani Ahmadzai signed a power sharing agreement with opponent Abdullah Abdullah, who will fill the newly created position of government chief executive.

iii. A Ghani Ahmadzai supporter — Halim Fidai, a former governor — said Sunday that UN representative Jan Kubish told the commission not to release detailed vote tallies.

3.    Voreqe Bainimarama sworn in as Fiji's PM 

i. Coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama was sworn in as Fiji's new Prime Minister on Monday.

ii. With official results confirming Voreqe Bainimarama had swept the election with almost 60 per cent of the vote, he was sworn in by President Epeli Nailatikau at a brief ceremony in Suva's Government House. 

iii. The final count in the election gave Bainimarama's Fiji First Party 59.2 per cent of the vote, equating to 32 seats in the new 50-seat parliament set up under a constitution introduced last year. 
iv. The Social Democratic Liberal Party was a distant second at 28.2 per cent (15 seats), with the National Federation Party next on 5.5 (three seats). 

4.    Alibaba IPO ranks as world's biggest after additional shares sold

i. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's initial public offering now ranks as the world's biggest in history at $25 billion, after the e-commerce giant and some of its shareholders sold additional shares.

ii. The IPO surpassed the previous global record set by Agricultural Bank of China Ltd in 2010 when the bank raised $22.1 billion.

iii. Under the option, Alibaba agreed to sell 26.1 million additional shares and Yahoo Inc 18.3 million, netting the two companies an extra $1.8 billion and $1.2 billion respectively.

iv. Jack Ma founder of Alibaba agreed to sell an extra 2.7 million shares and company co-founder Joe Tsai agreed to sell 902,782 additional shares, according to the prospectus.

5.    Narula Brothers won 7 crore rupees in Season 8 of Kaun Banega Crorepati

i. The Narula brothers of Delhi on 20 September 2014 became the first ever contestants to win 7 crore rupees in the television show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.

ii. The two brothers, Achin and Sarthak Narula emerged victorious in Season 8 of the show after answering 14 questions correctly, with help of four lifelines. 

iii. The tagline for the season 8 of the show is Yahan Sirf Paise Nahi, Dil Bhi Jeete Jate Hain.

6.    UP government to set Nirbhaya Centers in all districts

i. The Uttar Pradesh government on 19 September 2014 decided to open Nirbhaya Centers in all districts of the state. These Nirbhaya Centers will provide prompt help to the victims of crime against women and also facilitate lodging of FIRs.

ii. As per the decision made during the meet, the Nirbhaya centers will be set up in women hospitals or women police stations with the view to provide immediate medical and other help to the victims of crime or violence against women.

7.    NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft enters Mars orbit

i. NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft began orbiting Mars on a mission to study how the Red Planet’s climate changed over time from warm and wet to cold and dry.

ii. “Based on observed navigation data, congratulations. MAVEN is now in orbit,” said Dave Folta of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

iii. The unmanned orbiter has travelled more than 10 months and 711 million kilometres to reach Mars yesterday for a first-of-its kind study of the planet’s upper atmosphere.

iv. The data from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft aims to help scientists understand what happened to the water on Mars and the carbon dioxide in its atmosphere several billion years ago.

8.    Hockey India inducted Hockey Village India as an academy member

i. Hockey India (HI) on 19 September 2014 inducted Hockey Village India (HVI) as an Academy Member to reach out to underprivileged children who are keen to make a career in the sport.

ii. At present, Hockey India has 26 permanent Members, 23 associate Members, one Member through State Olympic Associations, eight Academy Members and one Hoc-Key Member.

iii. Hockey India has always strived to reach the underprivileged children those who in spite of having the talent cannot reach the big platform. Now the HVI on board will strengthen work towards reaching out and identifying the talent.

9.    Saurav Ghosal 1st Indian to make Asiad final, Pallikal gets bronze

i. Saurav Ghosal became the first Indian to enter the Asian Games final, beating 2006 champion Ong Beng Hee while Dipika Pallikal secured the country its maiden women's singles medal, a bronze, after losing the semifinal to world number one Nicol David in Incheon on Monday.

ii. Top seed and World No.16 Ghosal lived up to his billing, outplaying 35th-ranked Beng Hee of Malaysia 11-9 11-4 11-5 in 45 minutes on the glass court of Yeorumul Squash Courts. 
iii. The two players have beaten each other once on the PSA professional tour but Ghosal had lost to Beng Hee in the team semifinal of the Asian Championships in June. 
iv. Ghosal today was too good for his 34-year-old Malaysian opponent, who had won gold in the 2002 Busan and 2006 Doha edition besides getting a bronze in Guangzhou four years ago. 

10.  Federer replaces injured Nadal in Indian team for IPTL

i. The IPTL, brainchild of Mahesh Bhupathi, on Monday announced that Swiss great Roger Federer will replace Rafael Nadal in the Indian team for the new tennis league as the Spaniard has pulled out due to injury.

ii. Federer, the 17-time Grand Slam winner, was not part of the original squads announced by organisers of the Indian Premier Tennis League.

iii. Nadal, who has 14 Grand Slams to his name, had also pulled out of this year’s US Open due to a wrist injury.

iv. Federer joins American great Pete Sampras, former world number one Ana Ivanovic, Frenchman Gael Monfils along with India’s Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna in the squad. Fabrice Santoro is reserve player of the squad.

v. Russian superstar Maria Sharapova will also be now part of the league as she joins the Philippines team, which earlier had Victoria Azarenka.

Note:i.  The league will kick off on November 28 in Manila and conclude in Dubai on December 13.

ii. The Delhi leg will be played from December 6-8 at Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium.